Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 56-1-2 (38) lashed out at Caleb Plant 21(12) after the American mentioned his mother at the press conference to official announce their fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 6.
IBF super middleweight champion Plant called Alvarez a motherfucker and a drug cheat at the heated presser before the 31-year-old Mexican superstar planted one on his face.
Plant, who was wearing sunglasses, sustained a cut under his right eye.
The trash talk didn’t sit well with the WBC, WBA and WBO 168-pound champion.
“You can say whatever to me, but not to my mom,” Alvarez said.
“I’m going to fight anyone who says something about my mom. And he swung first. I just pushed him. He swung first and I do what I do. He crossed the line.
“It will be over in eight rounds or less. I’m going to knock out this guy. Easy.”
The 31-year-old Alvarez promised to make Plant pay for his transgression.
“You are not on my level and you will see on November 6. You don’t want to fight now, I promise you,” he said.
“We come from nothing and we worked hard to be here. For somebody to lie and talk trash about us, that upset Eddy. It is what it is though. We just have to show everyone who we are on November 6.
“Caleb might be on the same level as Billy Joe Saunders and Callum Smith, but he’s not on my level. I respect that he isn’t here to back down. You can see from today that this is definitely going to be a good fight.
“I know what I need to do and I know a lot about him. He’s a good fighter but I know my skills. My experience is going to give me the edge in the fight. I have faced similar styles to Caleb’s against Floyd Mayweather, Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout and Saunders.
“He’s an insecure person and that’s why he came with a lot of excuses about lots of things. I don’t care about it though. I’m just going to do my best on November 6 and win the fight.
“To be undisputed is history for Mexico and for everyone on my team. To be the undisputed champion is just a great thing for my career.”
Alvarez’s trainer and manger Eddy Reynoso added: “I think this is going to be a great fight, one where we unify the 168-pound division. As we do with every fight, we’re going to work hard in the gym. We’ve always worked hard in the gym.
“I’m a little upset by how things turned out today, but in the end we will settle things in the ring on November 6.
“The offensive language is what offended us the most. We are respectful people and we move forward from this with our heads held up high. Now we are going to train well, win the fight and see what comes next after that.
“There are a lot of people who say things on social media but then they don’t show up.
“Some people want to take down a whole country and a great athlete that represents his country. They talk a lot of trash. You need to work hard though. You need to have guts to work as hard as we do.”
